At first, she didn't think much of him. He was just a classmate.
Well, that is until the day she met him at her entryway.
She was finally back from the Feudal Era.
Her supplies were running low and she had to return soon anyway, because of the test that was coming up.
Sticking in her key, she opened the door, not expecting what would happen next.
Ah…" They both said out of reflex upon suddenly coming face-to-face with each other.
Eyes of recognition crossed her face at the person standing in front of her.
"You…" She trailed in thought.
He shyly averted her gaze, yet she followed his movement to peer at his face.
He looked…very familiar. Who was he, again?
She leaned in a bit to get a better look as he tried again, to hide his face.
Then she saw it. His eyes darted to the right.
It clicked!
"You're a classmate of mine, right?"
If she remembered correctly, there was a boy in her class that would usually not look others in the eye when spoken to.
The boy in front of her paused before sneaking a glance at her then nodded in reply.
Ah, it was him!
She never really got a good look at him before, since they usually never interacted and he'd usually have his head down playing his games.
Feeling confident after realizing who he was, she said his name. "Kozuki-san?"
His eyebrows furrowed a bit.
"Ko…" His voice was so soft that if she wasn't close to him, she would have been unable to hear it.
"Ko?"
What was he referring to?
"Ko…" He tried again yet, she still couldn't hear what he wanted.
Then she noticed something peculiar.
His eyes, a yellowish brown, like gold, looked directly at her.
She couldn't help herself but stare at them.
She didn't dare take a breath, as she was captivated with the way they started to glisten from the light as soon as he held his head up.
They were similar to Inuyasha's in color but different at the same time.
His, seemed more yellow than brown.
He took a big breath before looking at her. "It's, Kenma Kozume." He announced in a loud clear voice.
Eh, what?
She had been distracted by the way the light made the gleam in his eyes dance, making them look somewhat like jewels.
What did he say?
'Kenma Kozume' She repeated in her head.
"…."
"Kozume?" She repeated like testing it out. "Ah!"
Red darken her face as she realized. "Sorry, Kozume-san." She corrected and smiled shyly.
Then his eyes crinkled, becoming lighter and playful. The gleam in his eyes danced again, as if teasing her, from her mistake.
What was that before?
She could have sworn….
He had looked at her with an intense gaze that commanded her attention, when he had said his name.
She recalled the way he looked at her, his attention focused solely only at her.
Something in her chest stirred.
But she found herself silly for thinking of it.
Why?
Why hadn't they talked before?
If she had, maybe she could have a glimpse at his eyes sooner.
Before they had been like strangers, but that was then. Now, they're friends.
If she thought about it, it all started when he kindly accepted her request at tutoring. Through their study sessions together she got to know him better.
"Higurashi-san you forgot a step in your calculations." Kenma pointed to the problem.
The two of them were going over questions one last time before the test tomorrow.
It still amazes her at how much they covered over the past few days. She actually had a chance at doing more than barely passing in her most hated subject.
It was all thanks to Kenma.
Without him, she wouldn't have been able to cover that much material and instead, she would have tried to fish at some points by trying to remember some formulas.
Even the way he taught her was fascinating. Never had she thought she would be able to understand what was going on in math. Yet, now she could clearly understand what her textbook was saying.
Math out of all of her other subjects was a fickle thing. It had to be done a certain way in order to get answers which was why it was her weakest subject.
After having Kenma break down problems for her she found herself realizing that for math she was a kinesthetic learner. She learned better while watching someone do a problem, than copying afterwards.
It was different from when she tried to learn it herself in the feudal era. There wasn't anyone to tell her whether or not, if she was approaching a problem the right or wrong way.
"Ah, you got this one wrong again. You keep forgetting this step. Look at the example again."
She did what he said then tried the problem again.
"…you messed up again."
"Ahh!" She scratched the top of her head in aggravation.
The problem she was stuck on was the last, she needed to learn to cover everything for the test.
"Higurashi-san," His voice even, and held not a hint of annoyance in it. He worded her name slowly.
It was something Kagome liked about getting tutored from Kenma.
He was always patient with her.
His hand hovered over the top of her head before ruffling it a bit, as if he was hesitant to do it.
"Even if a game doesn't seem clear-able at first, after playing it over and over again, you can conquer it."
Sometimes, Kenma liked to speak game language, with some video game terminologies, but he had learned to ease up on the words. To instead, word his words easier to her understanding.
Kagome thought of it like game, by how fun it was to try to decipher what he was saying.
She mulled over his words for a bit.
'playing it over and over again,'
He was telling her repetition would help her learn it.
'doesn't seem clear-able at first,'
Yes, she knew she would be able to solve these types of problems once she had it, but it still frustrates her.
'doesn't seem'
How had she been approaching the problem?
….
If it doesn't seem clearable at first, she should try to approach it another way!
She unknowingly took a glance at Kenma.
He smiled at her softly, knowingly.
She got back to her paper to solve the problem again.
After a few more strokes, she looked at him expectantly.
"…correct."
If she couldn't get the problem right in the beginning she could attack it another way by simplifying it more before solving!
Kenma was right, she could do it!
With a big grin on her face she held out her hand to him.
He was confused at first, but she kept gesturing at her hand, until he got it.
The palms of their hands collided with each other forming a deafening booming clap that made both of their palms red and sting.
She opened her mouth, yet he could already make out what she was going to say, "Thank you."He heard it from her many times, yet he knew she sincerely meant it always.
Their"celebratory clap," she was attributing her accomplishments to him also. He found it silly she did when she had been the one to put in all the effort.
But that was because he didn't know how highly she thought of him.
Kenma Kozume was a really kind person.
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The beginning of the chapter goes with chapter 4, when they met at the entryway but is in Kagome's perspective.